Chicken Parmigiana...

Chicken is boring right? Tastes like chicken etc etc.... I hate bland food. Grilling a piece of chicken & serving it with lettuce is a sure fire way to make me not eat it, and eat crap instead. What can I say... my taste buds are stuck up b*tches...

Chicken is not boring. It's actually the perfect meat to cook with... you can basically flavour it any way you choose since it hasn't got a really strong flavour to begin with.

I prepared all the ingredients for this meal in less than ten minutes, and left it to cook while I showered & tidied up. Be smart with your time... don't just stand there staring at the oven for 20 minutes, and then moan about how long your dinner takes. I wipe down the kitchen counter tops, sweep & mop the kitchen floor every evening as my dinner cooks. Why??? Cos I'm clearly a clean freak, but also I know that coming home to a clean & tidy house the next day is a great feeling.

There's no feeling of dread about having to clean because someone is visiting, or cos there's an ant invasion on your counter tops... That's stress right there... Small stress admittedly (actually ant invasions are pretty nasty stress), BUT my point is that all those little stresses have a huge impact on your body without you even realising it.... and we know that stress is bad for our health, our nutrition habits & fat loss goals so..... clean the bloody kitchen! :)

Right... the chicken... it's delicious! Simple ingredients are the best.. Make this for dinner & it'll become an instant favourite :) (And no... it may not look amazing... but it tastes so good!)

Oh... and you get to bash the crap out of the chicken... there goes more stress!!

• 1 large chicken breast
• sea salt 
• paprika
• passata/chopped tomatoes
• grated cheese of your choice

Start by butterflying the chicken breast. (Using a sharp knife, cut a slit 3/4 way horizontally in to the breast)

Cover with a piece of cling film/tin foil, and using a rolling pin/saucepan or anything else heavy in your kitchen...whack the chicken repeated until it's well flattened... Great fun! 

Season with salt & paprika. Place in a heatproof dish, cover with tin foil & set aside while you prepare the vegetables. 

I'm addicted to roasting vegetables lately... they just taste so much nicer than stir frying them... and they're perfect lazy food ... all you've to do is chop them roughly & pop them in the oven. You can use any combination of vegetables you have, drizzle with a little melted coconut oil & season. Simple.... 

You can now put the chicken & vegetables into the oven. Cook for 12-15 minutes (the chicken will cook quickly since it's so thin). 

Once the chicken is cooked, remove the tin foil & add toppings... 

Add a generous amount of passata/canned chopped tomatoes/leftover home made tomato sauce....season well with chilli flakes & fresh herbs. If you're using canned tomatoes/passata, I'd suggest adding garlic powder too... just mix it all in a bowl before topping the chicken.

Top with 2 tbsp of grated cheese. You can use mozzarella, cheddar, goats cheese or whatever you feel like here. I used oak smoked cheddar. 

Place the chicken back in the oven for 5 minutes (uncovered) to allow the cheese to melt, and for it to warm through. 

Serve with your roasted vegetables. 

Wasn't that quick? 30 minutes after I started, I've got a delicious healthy dinner, I've showered & the kitchen is sparkling. Now what was that about it being difficult or too time consuming to cook????

Caramel Slice

I posted a photo of these healthy Twix bars on the Facebook page & took them to a training & nutrition seminar on Saturday.... I was pretty thrilled with the feedback. I love showing people that even if you want a snack (lets face it, we all do at some stage), you don't need to go for the really unhealthy choice...

Shortbread base:

• 275g unsalted butter
• 2 tbsp raw organic honey
• 1 tsp organic vanilla extract
• 1 large egg yolk
• 140g almond flour
• 40g coconut flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda

Preheat oven to 170d (fan).

Start by beating the butter, honey, vanilla & egg yolk together until everything is combined with no lumps remaining.

Next add the dry ingredient & stir well until you have a stiff dough. It will still be quite sticky, but should be firm.

Press into an 8x8' square tin lined with grease proof paper & bake in preheated oven for 25-30 minutes.

If you find it's browning too quickly, just place a sheet of tin foil over the tin to prevent it from burning. It's ready when it's golden brown and firm.

As the base is cooling, you can get started on the caramel filling...

Filling:

• 10 figs softened in boiling water for 10 minutes (you can use dates here too... I used figs because of their lower sugar content & cos I already had some!) 
• 50g pecan nuts
• 1/2 can of coconut milk (refrigerated overnight... just scoop the thick cream from the top half of the can. Keep the coconut water to add to a smoothie) 
• 2 tbsp raw organic honey
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 tbsp coconut oil, melted 

Ok listen up! 

Do not, I repeat do not add all these ingredients to the food processor at once... I always forget this, and end up covered in coconut milk! Just believe me alright! 

Start by adding the figs & pecans. Pulse until you have a thick paste. Scrape down the sides if you need to. 

Next add the liquid ingredients GRADUALLY. Yes, I'm shouting at you... cos you think I'm exaggerating here... I'm not! Just do as you're told... And yes, I know in the photo, I threw everything in at once.. this is the reason my kitchen wall needs to be painted now! Do as I say, and not as I do etc etc....

Once all the liquid is incorporated, you should have a thick caramel.

Spread over the cooled shortbread base. 

Chocolate topping: 

Next... whip up a batch of this homemade Paleo friendly chocolate, or I guess you could use super dark chocolate if you want... but make sure it's 85% cocoa solids at least... none of that milk chocolate crap! The higher to cocoa content, the lower the sugar content :) 

Cover the caramel with your chocolate. 

Allow to set at room temperature overnight, or for 2/3 hours at least. 

Cut into slices. I got 24 bars from this recipe. 

Almond truffles..

So since it's Christmas, we all like to treat ourselves... there are tins of Roses & Quality Streets everywhere, and we tend to overindulge mainly due to snacking on empty calories. 

A quick search yields the following nutritional information for 1 Roses chocolate: 48 calories, 3g fat, 6g carbs (5g from sugar) & 0 protein. Now that's not very nutritious! Who eats one chocolate??? C'mon... be honest... 

So wouldn't it be great to find an alternative... a chocolate that is rich & chocolatey, not overly sweet and actually provides some real nutrition...(AND contains less calories per sweet than a Rose!.... ok it's 1 calorie less... and no, I didn't plan that!)... Not possible right?? Wrong.... 

I give you my healthy (Paleo & Primal friendly) almond truffles :) 

• 3 tbsp coconut oil
• 3 tbsp Keen almond butter
• 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tbsp raw organic honey (if you prefer a sweeter chocolate)
• 15 whole almonds

Add coconut oil, almond butter, cocoa powder & honey to a heatproof glass bowl over gently simmering water. 

Stir constantly until you have a smooth glossy chocolate. 

Remove from the heat carefully. Make sure you don't allow any moisture into the mixture or the chocolate will seize and become grainy. 

Pour into silicone chocolate moulds (you can pick these up in Dunnes or TK Maxx for very little... a silicone ice cube tray works just as well) 

Drop 1 whole almond into each chocolate (this recipe makes 15). 

Allow to set in the fridge for 2-3 hours before carefully removing from the moulds. 

Nutritional Info: 

• Calories: 47
• Fat: 4.6g 
• Carbs: 1.6g (1.2g from sugar)
• Protein: 0.8g

Lower sugar & calories, lots of healthy fat and a tiny bit of protein... best of all, you know exactly what's in them.... no nasty chemicals for me over Christmas :) 

These are quite rich too so you're not going to be tempted to eat near as many as you would if it was a tin of Roses! 

YUM! :) 

Chocolate... Paleo friendly :)

I'm always wary of putting 'dairy/sugar/gluten free' in my post titles... I've lots of sarcastic friends who use it as an excuse to throw in 'taste free' when they comment on my posts! Mind you, I'm slowly but surely converting them, and making them realise that food doesn't need to be laced with sugar to taste good. I can't help but laugh when they call the food I cook 'fake food'... somewhat ironic given the fact that it's actually 'real' food...

*May not be entirely accurate

One ingredient I've struggled with for clean dessert recipes has been chocolate. Yes, you can use chocolate with a high cocoa content which lowers the sugar content, but I still wasn't happy. I try not to compromise what I'm trying to achieve, by adding sugar and artificial ingredients into my cooking. It's all too easy to take short cuts, and totally undermine your efforts to eat clean... before you know it, you're part of the 'IIFYM (If it fits your macros)' crowd, and you're having a breakfast roll with a side order of toast for breakfast! I've said repeatedly, that dessert and cake recipes I post here are for treats only... even though they're using quality ingredients, they shouldn't be forming the basis of your daily food intake! 

Chocolate is pretty amazing... so I decided to make my own. I hereby declare myself Willy Wonka :) 

I don't claim to have created this myself... it's a recipe that seems to be a Paleo favourite online, with a few amendments to suit my own preferences. Selfless as always, I've tried this out a couple of times, and promise it not only works, but it tastes great too... 

For the chocolate:

• 4 tbsp coconut oil
• 1 tbsp almond butter
• 8 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 tsp vanilla extract (I've substituted in peppermint/orange blossom extract....YUM!)
• 2 tbsp organic raw honey

Place all ingredients in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of gently simmering water. (Don't do this in the microwave... yes it's quicker, but your chocolate will seize, separate and burn!) 

Keep mixing as all the ingredients melt to create a glossy chocolate sauce. Don't allow it to stick and form lumps in the base of the bowl so seriously...keep stirring. 

Once you have a smooth, glossy chocolate sauce, pour into an 8"x8" tin lined with greaseproof paper. 

Allow to cool and set in a cool, dry place. 

If you place it in the fridge, you'll end up with a dull coloured chocolate.... it still tastes great so it won't really matter. (This may have been the case in my photo above!) 

Once set, you can cut into bars, use as chocolate chunks for cookies or paleo trail mix.... It's pretty damn good regardless of how you choose to use it :) 

Spongy chocolate cake (Grain & refined sugar free)

We all LOVE brownies.. they're gorgeous, rich and made of chocolate.. I need to find a man like that!

BUT...

Sometimes, it's nice to have a light cake... a nice sponge, or just something a little less decadent than a fudgy brownie. Since we're all in agreement that chocolate is amazing.. I threw together this simple grain & refined sugar free chocolate sponge... after all, you can never have enough chocolate cake recipes :)

• 2oz coconut oil
• 2 tbsp raw organic honey
• 1 small banana, mashed well
• 2 tbsp Greek yoghurt
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 4 large eggs 
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• pinch of salt
• 1oz almond flour
• 1oz unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda

Preheat oven to 160d (fan) and line an 8" square tin with greaseproof paper. 

Start by beating coconut oil and honey together until combined. 

Separate eggs, adding one egg yolk at a time to the oil & honey mixture. (Place whites in bowl of your stand mixer) Beat well between each addition. 

Next mix in mashed banana, yoghurt and vanilla. 

Add sieved almond flour, cocoa & baking soda to this mixture, and mix well. 

Using the whisk attachment on your stand mixer/food processor (you can do this using a hand whisk too, it'll just take a little longer) whisk the egg whites with 1 tsp of lemon juice until you have stiff peaks. 

Next using a spatula/large plastic spoon (don't use a wooden or metal spoon as they'll knock out all the air you've just added) add the egg white a little at a time, folding the mixture gently to incorporate the egg white. Be patient... you want a light, spongy texture to this cake. 

Pour mixture into lined tin, and bake for 20 minutes until springy to touch & a skewer comes out of the centre of the cake clean. 

Cool on a wire rack. You could serve this cake as it is, or add some fresh raspberries as a garnish. It's amazing with coconut and raspberry ice cream (dairy & sugar free)... That reminds me, I must make some so I can post the recipe :) 

I make a quick chocolate almond ganache to drizzle on the top...

Ganache:

• 1 tbsp coconut oil
• 1tsp almond butter 
• 2 tbsp cocoa
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Pop all the ingredients into a heat proof bowl and microwave for 15 seconds at a time until melted and smooth. Make sure to stir after each 15 seconds, or the mixture will burn, seize and turn into oily burnt chocolate (believe me... I know! And for the love of God don't taste it to see if you can work with it... you'll most likely need to wash your mouth out with industrial strength mouthwash and you'll still taste burnt chocolate for the next hour!) 

Anyway, I digress... leave the ganache aside for 5 minutes to cool and thicken slightly. 

Drizzle over cake and cut into slices. 

Hake with vegetable noodles...

I'm a bit weird when it comes to fish... I don't like the bones, feel or smell of it! Strange that I happen to actually love eating it..

I had never tasted hake before this, and probably never would have if it weren't for the very friendly guy in the fishmongers who decided to give me a piece to try. I can't take credit for this recipe... it was his suggestion (except for the veggie noodles... blame me for those). You can also blame me for the unimaginative naming of the dish... thankfully I don't work in marketing!

For the hake:

• Hake fillet (or white fish of your choice)
• 3 tbsp organic coconut milk
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 tsp fresh ginger, grated
• 1 lime, zest and juice
• sea salt
• dried chilli flakes
• cherry tomatoes

Place fish skin side down on a large piece of tin foil.
In a small bowl, mix coconut milk with garlic, ginger, chilli and lime.
Pour over fish, and season with sea salt and black pepper.

Place tomatoes alongside fish, and wrap tin foil loosely to lock in the steam and juices as it bakes.
Bake in preheated oven (170d) until fish is just opaque. (15 minutes should be enough, depending on the thickness of fish)

Vegetable noodles:

You can choose whatever vegetables you fancy for this, but I used parsnip, carrot, aubergine and courgette.

Using a wide vegetable peeler if you don't have a slicing attachment for your food processor, slice each vegetable into long noodle-like strips.

Add 1/2 tsp of coconut oil, a pinch of salt, and some more chilli flakes to a wok.
Add your veggie noodles, and cook over a high heat until cooked but still holding their shape. This will only take 3/4 minutes.

Serve your fish on a bed of vegetable noodles, and drizzle some of the baking juices & coconut milk over the top. This dish only takes about 30 minutes and is really inexpensive, so yet again... no excuses :)

Gooey raspberry brownies

I'm slightly addicted to the Great British Bake Off, and now that there's an Irish Bake Off too... I've got baking on the brain. I even rescheduled my training session in the gym to make sure I'm home in time to watch it... that's dedication! In fairness, that's dedication to both training and cake... I don't like to neglect the important things in life :)

I had an hour to kill this afternoon, and decided to bake brownies...a girl can never have too many brownie recipes after all... In my book, brownies are supposed to be fudgey rather than cakey, and have slightly chewy edge (that's why you always, always go for a brownie cut from the corner of the tin..they're the best!) These brownies are all that, and more... they're rich, chocolatey and best of all, they're grain, dairy and refined sugar free.. 

Brownies:

• 4 eggs
• 3 tbsp coconut oil, melted
• 2 tsp organic vanilla extract
• 3 tbsp unsweetened apple sauce
• 1 tbsp coconut flour (you can replace this with 1 1/2 tbsp almond flour)
• 75g unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 tbsp almond flour
• 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• pinch of salt
• 50g walnuts, chopped coarsely
• 50g fresh raspberries

Raspberry jam: 

• 50g fresh raspberries
• 1 tbsp unsweetened apple sauce

Preheat oven to 160d. Line an 8x8" square cake tin with greaseproof paper. 

Start by making raspberry jam. Simple add raspberries and apple sauce to a saucepan and cook until you have thick raspberry purée. Set aside to cool. 

Whisk liquid brownie ingredients in a large bowl. 

Add in dry ingredients, mix well. 

Next add walnuts and raspberries.

Stir until combined. 

Pour brownie mixture into lined tin. 

Finally drizzle raspberry 'jam' over the brownies and swirl into the mixture with a skewer. 

Bake in preheated oven until just set (approx 15 minutes). Since ovens vary, I suggest you keep an eye on them to make sure they don't over-bake. 

You'll get 12 brownies from this recipe, and since they freeze well, you have no excuse for eating them all!!

Lemon Meringue Pie (Grain, dairy and refined sugar free)

The title is not a lie!

Seriously, for some reason I obsess over recreating classic dishes to fit in with my lifestyle. I really don't think it's healthy to live a life of deprivation... it's all about moderation, and when I make desserts like this, it's usually when I'm visiting someone, or when I'm cooking for a group. Basically what I'm trying to say, I make sure that there's no possible way I can sit down and eat it all myself with a giant spoon! Since I changed my eating habits, I don't crave sugar or sweet things anymore, so it's pretty easy for me to just have a tiny taste and settle for that.

And yeah, I do realise that by bringing friends cake that fits in with my lifestyle, I'm kind of pushing my views on them... but hey, I've never had any complaints yet, and it's good to help people realise that recipes don't actually need to be sugar laden to taste good. Mind you, I do know which friends I need to bring full blown sugar explosion desserts to, and that's ok too...not everyone has to eat the way I do.

So back to the Lemon Meringue pie..strange one really, it's not a dessert I'd go mad for, but for some reason I decided to recreate it at the weekend. Most likely because I had no idea how to manage pastry, custard and meringue without grains, dairy, and refined sugar... It seems I like a challenge!

Pastry crust

• 165g almond flour
• 80g coconut flour
• 80g tapioca flour
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 2 eggs 
• 3 tbsp raw organic honey
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 tbsp coconut oil, melted 

Preheat oven to 160d (fan oven).

Sieve dry ingredients twice. (Don't be lazy, do it twice... it adds far more air to the mixture, and will make a lighter crust) 

Mix all the liquid ingredients together in a bowl and whisk until incorporated. 

Add 3/4 of the liquid to your flour mix, and using your hands mix well. 

At this stage, your pastry should still be crumbly. 

Add the remaining liquid in stages, a little at time. You're looking for a pliable dough, and don't want it too sticky or it'll be difficult to work with. It shouldn't be crumbly either though! (I really should have taken photos as I made it!) 

If it's too sticky, add a little more almond flour just to make it easier to work with. 

No need to roll the pastry out.. it's going to be a little more fragile than standard pastry so you can just press it evenly into your pie dish (use a 9" dish). Be patient, press it in well into the corners of the dish.. there's plenty of dough, just keep at it until you have an even crust. 

Next you need to place a circle of parchment paper onto the crust and weigh down using baking beans or even dry uncooked rice. (This is called baking 'blind'). This stops the crust rising too much, and browning too quickly. 

Bake for 15 minutes, then remove baking beans and parchment. Bake for a further 5 minutes until pale golden brown. 

Lemon filling

• 4 lemons, zest removed and juiced
• 4 egg yolks
• 2 cans of full fat organic coconut milk refrigerated overnight (thick cream only..you can use the coconut water for smoothies later)
• 5 tbsp raw organic honey
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp arrowroot starch 
• 2 tbsp boiling water
• 2 gelatin leaves softened as per packet instructions

Add the first 5 ingredients to a saucepan, and cook over a low heat for 5 minutes. Keep stirring so it doesn't go lumpy and you don't end up with scrambled eggs! 

Mix arrowroot and boiling water to make a thick paste (if you add it to the custard as powder it will go lumpy)

Add your paste, and gelatin leaves (discard the water). 

Keep stirring until custard comes to just below a boil. Simmer until thick. 

You can check if it's going to set by dropping a teaspoon of the mixture onto a plate. If it forms a skin quickly, then your custard will set. 

Once ready, add to your pastry shell. 

Meringue topping

• 4 egg whites
• 4 tbsp raw organic honey
• 1/2 tsp cream of tartar

Whisk egg whites and cream of tartar until opaque and stiff. 

Add honey 1 tbsp at a time, whisking well in between additions. 

Whisk until you have glossy, stiff meringue. 

Pile onto your lemon filling, and swirl with a fork to create peaks. 

Bake at 170d (fan) for 10-15 minutes until golden. 

Allow to cool before serving. 

I have to say... I was thrilled nobody realised until after they had eaten it that it wasn't my normal recipe! Success!! As I said before, dessert isn't an every day thing.. and just because it has healthier ingredients, doesn't given you licence to go crazy eating it. Keep it as a treat...